Six Nations now looks certain to move to pay TV
THE Six Nations looks certain to move to pay TV on the back of the £365million deal with investment company CVC Capital partners.
CVC are acquiring 14.5 per cent of the competition’s commercial rights, with around £50million coming to Welsh rugby as a result of the five-year agreement.
Their investment will give them considerable influence over the commercial activity relating to both the Championship and the autumn internationals.
In particular, they will have a big say in the negotiations over the next broadcast rights deal for the Six Nations.
The current contract, which sees coverage shared between the BBC and ITV, ends this year.
From 2022, how people will watch the tournament is set to change dramatically.
The deal with CVC will see the private equity firm receive 14.5 per cent of the commercial income from the Championship on a yearly basis.
So it’s in their interest to maximise that income and that will doubtless mean looking to the lucrative pay TV market.
Up to now, the Six Nations has always been free to air.
But - unlike the World Cup in rugby and football, the Olympics, the FA Cup, Wimbledon and the Grand National - it doesn’t have protected “crown jewel” status.
Calls for it to be added to that Category A list of sporting events that must be available free to air were rejected by the Government last year.
So there is nothing to stop the Championship going on to subscription channels from 2022 and that looks odds on to happen.
The likeliest outcome would be a mix of terrestrial and Pay TV, while it remains to be seen whether S4C would be able to continue to provide coverage of all of Wales’ games, as is the case now.
It’s understood there will be some limits on the number of games going behind a paywall as part of the agreement with CVC.
The word is no country will be able to have more than three of their Six Nations matches on subscription TV only.
But, in some shape or form, it is coming in.
Among the contenders to provide paywall coverage would be Sky Sports, BT Sport and Amazon Prime, who have just dipped their toe in the market by broadcasting the Autumn Nations Cup.
Speaking to a leading figure in Welsh rugby, it seems pretty clear what CVC’s strategy will be.
“They were only interested in coming on board if there was a paywall option, as that’s where they will make their money,” he said.
“The negotiations were delayed while the UK government considered whether the Six Nations should be enhanced to crown jewels status.
“With that rejected, the CVC investment has been able to go ahead.
“There is no way they would have contemplated doing the deal if there weren’t paywall possibilities.
“They are incentived to drive revenue because they will get a percentage of commercial income moving forward. So that means pay TV.
“CVC will have a major influence on the negotiations for the next TV deal.
“If you are not going to draw on their expertise, why would you have them there?
“Similarly, why would the Six Nations bring them on board and sell forward a chunk of their income if they didn’t believe doing so would drive revenue up?
“They could just attempt to drive revenue themselves, but they clearly feel the best way forward is to utilise CVC’s expertise to do that.
“So it all points to moving in the direction that generates the most income.
“With that in mind, it’s inevitable the competition will go behind a paywall to some extent.
“It’s the only way the game is going to make up the losses it is suffering through Covid.
“I suspect you will see a mix of pay TV and terrestrial, with some games free to air but then extensive terrestrial highlights.
“CVC have a very good relationship with Sky. They did deals with them when they were involved in Formula 1.
“You’ve also got Amazon on the scene now. They were delighted with what happened over the autumn and streaming is going to become increasingly the norm over the coming years.
“There are so many platforms out there now. It’s a question of putting together the best commercial deal.”
It’s been reported that all the major details of the five-year deal between the six Unions and CVC have been agreed and an announcement is expected before the start of this year’s tournament.
The RFU will receive the biggest share of the investment with a payment of around £70m, because of the size of the English market and their previous lucrative autumn international TV deals.
They will be closely followed by France and then the rest of the home unions, with Italy getting the smallest pay-out.
It’s understood the WRU will receive around £52m over the fiveyear period, the third highest amount.
CVC are believed to have insisted this year’s Six Nations stay in its usual position in the calendar despite the issues thrown up by Covid, with no fans able to attend matches and the European cup competitions having been suspended.
So the 2021 Championship is due to begin as planned on the first weekend of February, with Wayne Pivac’s Wales opening their campaign against Ireland at the Principality Stadium on Sunday, February 7.